Kelly Oubre Suspension Will Keep Everyone on Edge

The suspension to Kelly Oubre will do nothing to calm things down in game four

The regular season was enough to establish more than enough bad blood between the Boston Celtics and Washington Wizards. After the way the first three games have played out, the tension has reached a point where very few could have expected.

In the first two games, everything went somewhat according to plan. No one is hiding from the fact that these teams do not like each other, and it was easy enough to see that in how these guys played each other.

That was until game three happened, when everything reached a breaking point. Three ejections and eight technical fouls were the culmination of a season of battles between these teams, and it is not going to stop.

The tensions peaked after Kelly Oubre felt as though the Celtics were giving him blows to the head on some hard screens, and all of a sudden the game was no longer the priority. Oubre charged at Kelly Olynyk following a screen that made him hit the floor, and not even a referee in the way would stop Oubre from getting to his target.

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As was expected, Oubre was suspended for a game. This is not a debilitating loss by any means, but the Wizards cannot afford to lose any more depth. The Wizards will certainly feel the difference of missing a player, but that will not be the end of the incident.

These teams have been physical and they will continue to be physical. Every player knows that the majority of the other players on the floor are on the edge of breaking themselves, and the league will be paying close attention to a series that has been fully out of the control of the refs.

The Celtics have always been able to antagonize and get under opponents’ skin. The Celtics will certainly be looking for the Wizards to reach that breaking point again, and if you think there is any chance that things may ease up because of the suspension, you have not watched these teams play enough this year.

Both teams will feel as though they owe the opponent one. The Celtics look at Oubre’s reaction as the ultimate overreaction to a physical screen. The Wizards will go into this feeling that the Celtics have instigated everything, and they are the ones getting the short end of the stick with a suspension.

All this extra drama feeds into narratives for both teams. All this has done is amplify exactly how these two teams have felt all season long. Add on that it is happening in the playoffs and the referees are going to be in for a wild game four.

Perhaps the coaches will get into the ears of the players and get everyone to calm everything down to avoid another incident that could result in a suspension. Remember, enough technicals lead to a suspension and whoever comes out of this series will have to look carefully at that.

Maybe the referees will finally be able to get control of this series, and keep the tempers down, but I have my doubts. Not between these two teams, and not with everything that has happened.

The two teams talk a lot and in many ways both teams are under the other’s skin. Both teams want the other one to be the one that takes it overboard and hurt themselves, but neither can feel confident that they wont be the one to break like Oubre did.

Losing Oubre plays right into one of Boston’s biggest strength in this series. Fortunately, Oubre alone is not going to be the difference in this series, but the same cannot be said about the depth of the Wizards. If Oubre’s replacement is disastrous enough, then he will have caused a distinct disadvantage in the crucial game four.

Chances are, the tempers would be flaring even if Oubre did not lose his cool like that in game three, but the most aggressive and intense series of the playoffs continues to get more material for this kind of attitude towards the opponent.

It does not need to be said how much these teams dislike each other, and that was before the game that should cause the most bad blood between the two teams.

Given the importance of game four, these antics could be behind everyone, but a lot will depend on how the game goes. Everyone, including the referees, realize that the moment one team does something suspect, the other is not going to stand for it.

Next: Celtics Need Olynyk's Offense

These teams have proven that no amount of technicals or ejections are going to cause them to back down, and it will be fascinating to see exactly how players respond to the Oubre suspension.